Drink Of The Week: French 75 Cocktail

Is Your Drink Named After A Cannon?

A little history with your buzz...

The French 75 may be a champagne cocktail, but by no means is it only meant to be sipped at wedding receptions and New Year's Eve parties. This is a drink that kicks ass and takes names, thanks to the ingenious addition of gin, its intensity masked by a little lemon and sugar.

The drink was allegedly created by a World War I fighter pilot of French and American origin who found champagne a little lacking in the potency department. The resulting drink was so powerful he said it felt like being on the receiving end of a French 75mm howitzer artillery piece — hence the name.

Hair-on-your-chest factor: 74/100

If a World War I pilot says it's strong, and if Ernest Hemingway and his cronies knocked these back at the Ritz in Paris, then you can be confident in your masculinity while ordering one. Just beware that particular kind of intoxication that comes from the mystical dovetailing of gin and champagne — not for rookies. Instructions: 2 oz gin 1 tsp sugar (superfine if possible) 1/2 oz lemon juice 5 oz Brut champagne

In a cocktail shaker, combine the gin, sugar and lemon juice and shake well with cracked ice. Fill a Collins glass partway with ice and strain the gin mixture into it. Top off with champagne.